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Monday 23 Jun 2008

LATEST IMPROVEMENT WORK ON SETTLE – CARLISLE LINE

Region & Route:

The latest phase of work to upgrade the famous 72 mile Settle to Carlisle railway line begins at 9.35 pm on Saturday 5 July. Train services will be replaced by road transport to allow Network Rail to continue with its five-year, £60m programme of track improvements. The line reopens at 5.45 am on Monday 21 July.

Old jointed track at four separate work sites will be replaced with continuously welded rails to bring it up to the latest standards and give passengers a much smoother, quieter ride. These new rails also mean less wear and tear on the trains using the line.

The four sites are Aisgill, Grisedale, Dent and Stainforth, where a total of nearly seven miles of new rail will be laid on 9,600 sleepers embedded in 24,000 tonnes of ballast (the grey stone chippings that the track sits on). There will also be earthwork in the Blea Moor area.

While the line is closed, as well as the track work Network Rail will press on with its £18 million project to install additional signals along the route. This is aimed at reducing the time interval between trains following each other over a section of track, which in turn will considerably improve the punctuality of both freight and passenger trains.

It will also increase the capacity of the line, which is needed as an integral part of the new timetable on the west coast main line that starts in December.

Northern Rail services between Settle and Appleby will be replaced by road transport, and temporary posters and timetables have been produced to reflect the changes.

Passengers should check their journey details with Northern, call National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or log on to www.nationalrail.co.uk particularly if travelling to/from Dent as the replacement road transport is unable to call at the station.